Families Wellness Initiative launched as the Kaduna Pilot Centre is commissioned

The President of the Defence and Police Officers' Wives Association (DEPOWA), Mrs Mernan Femi Oluyede, has launched the DEPOWA Families Wellness Initiative (DFWI), a structured preventive wellness and early-intervention programme designed to strengthen the well-being and resilience of Armed Forces and Police personnel and their families.

The Initiative was officially launched alongside the commissioning of its Kaduna Pilot Centre at the Nigerian Army Wellness Centre, 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital (44 NARHK), Kaduna, on Friday, 25 September 2026, marking a significant step in DEPOWA's drive to strengthen the support system available to families behind the uniform.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Oluyede highlighted the unique pressures associated with military and police service and the impact such demands could have not only on serving personnel but also on their spouses, children and dependants.

She noted that deployments, prolonged separation, frequent relocations and the uncertainties associated with service could place considerable emotional and psychological demands on families, making preventive support, early intervention and accessible pathways to appropriate care increasingly important.

The DEPOWA President explained that the DFWI was conceived to provide a supportive and stigma-free environment where beneficiaries could access wellness education, first-line assistance, professional counselling, psychosocial support and appropriate referral services, while complementing existing medical and healthcare structures.

She stressed that seeking support should not be regarded as a sign of weakness, noting that identifying challenges early and providing the right assistance could prevent them from developing into more serious problems.

Mrs Oluyede further maintained that the welfare of service families was inseparable from the effectiveness of the institutions their loved ones served, as personnel were better positioned to discharge demanding responsibilities when confident that appropriate support systems existed for their families.

The Kaduna Centre will serve as the pilot platform for the Initiative, providing an opportunity to implement the model, assess its effectiveness, identify lessons and progressively strengthen the programme towards sustainability and possible expansion to other military and police communities.

Providing an overview of the project, the DEPOWA Project Coordinator, Dr Mrs Amina Abdullahi, explained the concept and framework of the Initiative, highlighting its preventive and early-intervention approach and the range of support envisaged for beneficiaries.

The project overview further situated the Kaduna Pilot within DEPOWA's broader effort to create an accessible support structure that encourages early help-seeking, strengthens coping capacity and connects individuals and families requiring further assistance to appropriate professional care.

CDS backs DFWI, links family resilience to institutional effectiveness

In his remarks, the Special Guest of Honour, the Chief of Defence Staff, General OO Oluyede, represented by the Chief of Defence Simulation Centre, Major General AA Aboaba, commended DEPOWA for the establishment of the Initiative and highlighted the importance of family well-being to the effectiveness of personnel and the institutions they serve.

The CDS noted that the demands of military and security service extended beyond the individual in uniform to spouses, children and dependants, making strong and resilient families an important component of personnel welfare and institutional effectiveness.

He welcomed the Initiative's emphasis on prevention, early intervention and accessible support and called for sustained institutional collaboration towards ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of the Kaduna Pilot.

The high-level support for the Initiative was also reflected in goodwill messages from the Services and sister Officers' Wives Associations.

Representing the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Air Training Command, Air Vice Marshal FO Ankeli, commended DEPOWA for what he described as a proactive intervention addressing the emotional and psychological pressures associated with military and police service, linking strong family support systems with personnel welfare, operational effectiveness and combat readiness.

The launch also brought together Presidents and representatives of the sister Officers' Wives Associations and senior military and police officers, reinforcing the inter-Service and inter-agency character of the Initiative.

Mrs Oluyede acknowledged the importance of partnership in sustaining the DFWI, particularly the collaboration of the Nigerian Army Officers' Wives Association (NAOWA) and 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in the Kaduna Pilot.

She also expressed DEPOWA's commitment to working with sister Officers' Wives Associations — NAOWA, NOWA, NAFOWA and POWA — and relevant institutions towards progressively extending the benefits of the Initiative to more military and police families.

Following the formal commissioning of the Centre, the Chief Medical Director of 44 NARHK led the Special Guest of Honour, the DEPOWA President and other dignitaries on a guided tour of the facility, affording guests an opportunity to inspect the various service areas and gain further insight into the operational setting of the Kaduna Pilot.

The launch represented the flagship engagement of Mrs Oluyede's maiden official working visit to Kaduna State, during which she undertook a series of engagements centred on family welfare, healthcare, economic empowerment, education, humanitarian support and institutional collaboration.

With the activation of the Kaduna Pilot Centre, DEPOWA has moved the Families Wellness Initiative from concept to implementation, establishing a platform through which preventive wellness, early intervention, psychosocial support and appropriate professional referrals can be progressively strengthened for the families behind those who serve.

The Initiative reinforces DEPOWA's central message that supporting the family behind the uniform ultimately strengthens the individual in uniform — and that stronger families contribute to stronger institutions and a stronger nation.